


Glimpses

by another_maggies



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Toni's backstory, Toni's parents, inspired by Vanessa's interviews
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 04:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19055365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/another_maggies/pseuds/another_maggies
Summary: Just random glimpses into Toni's life growing up





	Glimpses

Anton Topaz is 22 when his daughter is born.

“She’s beautiful,” the nurse tells him, as she passes the bundle of blankets that – presumably – holds a baby. _The_ baby. Anton’s daughter.

Damn. He didn’t imagine his life to be like this. If you’d told him he’d have a family a couple years ago, he’d have fallen over laughing. Commitment isn’t exactly one of the strengths Anton can put down on his CV. Not that he’s ever tried to apply for a serious job.

The bundle of blankets – too heavy to be just blankets, there must be a baby in there somewhere ( _his_ baby) – finds its way into Anton’s arms.

Shit. This is it.

Now that he’s got a good grasp on the bundle, he can move his arm to fold back some of the blanket where it’s covering the baby’s face.

Anton himself was an ugly baby. His mother could only be consoled by the wise words his grandmother uttered upon first seeing him: Ugly babies make handsome men.

His grandmother never said anything about girls.

She didn’t need to.

Anton’s daughter _is_ beautiful.

Slowly, he lets his eyes wander over all her delicate features. Her tiny button nose. Her rose pink lips, curved in a round O as she sleeps. The long lashes that almost touch her honey coloured cheeks with her eyes closed. The sole brown curl on top of her head.

He reaches out his hand. It’s funny. Anton woke up today, fearless and ready to face another harsh day on the South Side. Now, his hand’s shaking.

(The nurse might give him a suspicious look for the bloody knuckles. She doesn’t say anything. And it’s not like he’d hear anyway.)

When his index finger makes contact with the baby’s cheek, his daughter blinks. Anton’s daughter blinks, moves her head ever so slightly and then opens her eyes.

She stares right into Anton’s soul.

“Hi,” he says, his voice hushed. Foreign. He laughed when they told him he’d talk different to his children. (But then, he thought he’d never have any.) “Hi. It’s me. Daddy.”

Anton’s daughter just blinks. Long lashes over dark brown eyes.

Baby blues don’t run in Anton’s family. They’re not called Topaz for nothing.

“She’s an absolute darling,” the nurse gushes, pulling Anton from his thoughts. “Only cries when she really needs something, that one. Never cries for no reason. It’s like she’s a little angel sent from God himself. That’s why we called her-”

“Dorothy. Yeah. I know,” Anton interrupts.

As if he needs any reminder that his daughter has been in this hospital for a week.

The nurse blushes. “You can change it, obviously.”

He sighs, lifts his hand from soft baby skin to rub between his eyes; rough skin meeting rougher fingertips. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. I know it’s a lot to take in…”

Anton laughs, dryly. _A lot to take in_. Yep. You could definitely sum up your dad whom you’ve fallen out with years ago turning up at your doorstep, shoving a paper in your face convinced that you’ve made him a grandfather and your baby is now at the hospital after your ex-girlfriend who never even told you she was pregnant put her in a baby hatch with those five words.

It doesn’t matter, though. Nothing matters. Only her. Anton’s daughter.

“Picking a name takes time, I know. Took me my whole pregnancy with my second, you really shouldn’t rush these things-”

“I’ve already picked one,” Anton interrupts again. But much gentler this time.

His finger brushes against his daughter’s cheek, softly. She’s fast asleep.

“I’ve got a name for you,” he whispers, “I’ve got a name for you, and I’ve got you. Forever.”


End file.
